Mar 2, 2018 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 4 min read

If you’re one of those folks who battles high blood pressure, you’re not alone.

It turns out that the number of deaths from cardiovascular disease in Allegheny County is higher than in the rest of the Pennsylvania and the United States as a whole, according to the American Heart Association. And high blood pressure, of course, is one of the leading factors for cardiovascular disease.

To help remedy the situation, the association’s Great Rivers Affiliate has launched a countywide health initiative that is coming to Upper St. Clair Township Library.

“Check. Change. Control” will be held during four monthly sessions at the library, with the first one scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. March 7. The program builds on the workplace-based “Challenge: BP,” a partnership between the AHA and Live Well Allegheny.

“It’s been very successful, in that the average drop in blood pressure has been around 10 systolic points at the completion of this program,” Ashish Bibireddy, the affiliate’s community health project coordinator, reported. “We wanted to bring it to the community with the hope of producing similar outcomes to what we found in our workplaces.”

Each of the four “Check. Change. Control” sessions features a theme addressing certain aspects of blood pressure and its management:

• What the systolic and diastolic pressure numbers mean, and what represents normal vs. other readings
• Lifestyle changes that can help lower blood pressure, particularly with regard to nutrition and exercise
• Types of blood pressure medications and their effects
• Ongoing evaluation of participants’ readings and discussing concepts such as stress management

“One of the main aspects of the program is, we’re not there to diagnosis people or give them medical advice,” Bibireddy explained. “We’re merely trying to provide them with the information so that they can feel empowered to take action and contact their healthcare provider.”

“Check. Change. Control,” which is funded by a $92,000 grant from Pittsburgh’s Highmark Foundation, began its first cycle of sessions in the fall, followed by more in January and a final round starting in March.

“Part of our program is building relationships with different communities and organizations,” Bibireddy said. “We have really good relationships with the Allegheny County Library Association, and they connected us to Upper St. Clair.”

To address the dietary component of high blood pressure further, the AHA and Pittsburgh-based 412 Food Rescue are collaborating on a related program, Healthy BP for All. The effort incorporates Cooking Matters, a national curriculum promoted by Share Our Strength, an organization working toward ending childhood hunger in the United States.

Share Our Strength, in turn, has partnered with 412 Food Rescue to implement the curriculum in the Pittsburgh area during the past year, with Natsuki Nakamura serving as 412’s Cooking Matters coordinator.

“The theme is to make nutritious, delicious meals on a budget, and to help make things that might seem intimidating kind of simple and easy,” she said about dietary changes that can contribute to lower blood pressure.

Cooking Matters, which the Upper St. Clair library plans to host in autumn, is a series of six two-hour classes.

“You help cook a meal together, and then eat it all together and have a nutrition lesson,” Nakamura explained. “And then every participant gets a little take-home grocery bag of the same ingredients of that recipe we made together in class, so that they can make it again at home.”

For more information about Upper St. Clair Township Public Library programs, visit www.twpusc.org/library/library-home. To register for “Check. Change. Control,” contact Walker Evans at 412-835-5540, extension 283, or evansw@einetwork.net.